Ben Karlin's career path from college student to Emmy-winning executive producer for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart\ and ""The Colbert Report"" began as a freshman at UW-Madison.
""I had a roommate. His name was Bob. He showered with a bong,"" he said.
Humble beginnings for a man who, in his short career, has been editor of The Onion, co-editor of the best-selling ""America (The Book),"" and the head writer on two of the most popular shows on television.
Karlin remains humble, and his self-effacing sense of humor resonated with the crowd at Memorial Union Monday evening, dispensing advice to would-be writers.
""Don't be a great writer who's angry to fetch coffee, be a great coffee-fetcher,"" Karlin said. ""You'd be shocked how far competence will take you.""
Surprisingly, Karlin was hesitant to take the job at The Daily Show in 1999 because he thought the show was a step down for Jon Stewart.
""Sometimes you have to take a leap,"" Karlin said. ""Very little in this world is not reversible, except for a sex-change operation.""
He took the job and has never looked back.
""The difference between living to work and working to live is that one doesn't even feel like work,"" Karlin said.
The Daily Show won Emmy Awards in 2001, 2003 and 2004 for outstanding writing and for an outstanding comedy series.
Asked if his shows have a political agenda, Karlin denied any political affiliation. His philosophy for the show is not to make public figures look bad, but to let them do it to themselves.
""We don't poke people in the chest and tell them they're wrong. There's a better way to do that,"" Karlin said.
The lecture, part of the Union's Distinguished Lecture Series, was peppered with taped appearances by Stewart and Colbert.
Stewart and Colbert took turns poking fun at Wisconsin's reputation.
""College is a magic time when you'll eat anything. And it's a time to get some incredibly stupid behavior out of your system,"" Stewart said.
Colbert expressed remorse for the ""French-sounding"" names of some Wisconsin cities. Part of his plan for improvement included changing Fond du Lac to simply Fondue.
""This is America's dairyland, how come no one thought of that?""
Karlin's work has inspired UW-Madison students who take pride in his legacy.
""The fact that The Onion has its history here was actually one of the big reasons I ended up coming here,"" said UW-Madison junior Matt Rock.\
